The present invention generally relates to weight lifting cages for free weights and more particularly to a weight lifting cage having a movable carriage with slave racking capability.
Safety is always a concern to weight lifters, especially as the amount of weight approaches and passes the body weight of the weight lifter. Even lesser amounts of weight can be dangerous if the lifter loses control of the weight bar. For that reason, a spotter often is employed to assist the lifter should the amount of weight being lifted prove uncontrollable or should the lifter lose his/her balance while lifting weights. Often, however, a spotter is unavailable to the lifter and other safety means need to be employed.
One such other safety means is a weight lifting apparatus, often referred to as a power rack or power cage, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,510 or in U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,859. Such power cages are designed for the lifter to lift free weights without the need for a spotter. Power cages generally include a pair of side frames interconnected by a back frame. Each side frame carries a carriage, movable front to back and up and down. A weight bar runs laterally and is carried by the movable carriage. The lifter can add any desired amount of free weights to the weight bar and stand within the cage. The lifter can lift the bar while being able to step slightly forward and slightly backward within the cage, while simultaneously lifting the weight bar up and down. The dual-movable carriage permits such dual movement.
In one power cage model (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,859), each vertical side bar of the front and back frames have a series of outwardly projecting pins while the weight bar carriage has outwardly projecting hooks. The lifter can move to the front or to the back of the power cage and rack the weight bar by engaging the hooks onto the pins.
An improved power cage with slave rack is disclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,374,516, which discloses a weight lifting power cage for use by a weight lifter and includes a frame assembly, a carriage, weight rack bars, and an engagement mechanism. The frame assembly includes a pair of side frames and a rear lateral frame interconnecting the pair of side frames. A carriage is carried by the side frames and is movable simultaneously vertically and front to back, i.e., depthenally. The carriage also carries a weight bar mount for retaining a weight bar spanning between each side frame. The weight bar is movable by the carriage vertically and depthenally, i.e., front to back. The movable carriage also carries a pair of vertical weight rack bars. An engagement mechanism enables the weight lifter to rack the weight bar from a weight lifting position without stepping forward or backward by dint of the rack bars also being mounted on the movable carriage.
The present invention is addressed to improving the weight lifting power cage of the '516 patent by eliminating much of the cage and the upper sliding mechanism to provide a simpler design with less parts (weight) and expense.